Houdegbe North American University??

Hello all,
I would like to know the status of this university which is based in Cotonou with a single room campus in Abuja, nigeria.
My questions are : Is this really recognised and legitimate university? or is it just using "north American" to decieve it prospectus students and general public. Secondly, who award the Diploma ? and where ?Which part of north American this university was founded Usa or canada?
I'm sorry i could't get their website and i'v spent sometimes on google search machine.
I have friend who told me he will soon graduate with an MBA and will proceed for his PhD to Usa or europe.
Thanks

 

As far as it is not accredited in the United States.. You should check out the country of nigeria accreditation.

 

As Tekman said, it is not accredited in the United States. However, I did find the website for the school at http://www.hnaub.com/index.htm

According to the website, the school was founded in 2001, so it isn't an old school and that is a relatively short amount of time for international recognition. You'll have to check in Nigeria for details on the legality of the school.

The good news is it doesn't have all the signs of being a "diploma mill". The school doesn't appear to offer online or distance degrees or life experience degrees. From the listing of programs on the website, there are two-year programs, four-year programs and graduate programs. While I don't know the details of typical Nigerian higher education, the programs seem to imitate what would be required at a typical U.S. school. This might be the reason for the "North American" part of the name.

If you plan on staying and working in Nigeria, this might be an acceptable school. As long as it meets standards in Nigeria and employers accept it. If you plan on moving from Nigeria and working in another country, you might want to find a school that has international recognition and acceptance.

 

Hi Abdullah.

This is the only website that I could find for Houdegbe:

http://www.hnaub.com/

It claims to have some kind of ministry approval in Benin, but I don't know how much trust to place in that. I didn't see any connection to the United States or to Canada at all, apart from the words "North American" in the school's name. My guess is that those words are just there for marketing.

Real colleges and universities in North America have significant web presences. Not only do they have their own websites, but many other people talk about them as well: accreditors, colleagues at other universities, employers, professional organizations, students, neighbors in the cities in which they are located.

Who knows? Maybe it's a legitimate private university in Benin. Maybe it has an academically meaningless business license in the United States and the Benin ministry 'accreditation' is just approval for it to operate in Benin as a branch of a supposedly foreign university.

There's a danger that your friend might have difficulty getting American or European doctoral programs to recognize credits and degrees awarded by Houdigbe.

 

HNAUB is Authentic

Although, i know that this post is so old, but i cant help but to put a reply to nullify every doubt, i am a student of HNAUB in Benin Republic, am in my 3rd year. Alot of people have been trying to fraud the school by trying to open fake website with the school's name, never the less am a bonafide student and run a blog for my school http://wwwhnaubonlinemart.blogspot.com if anyone wants any concrete information about my school, the school's main website is under constuction right now, but every information about the school and the student can be found in http://www.hnaubonlinemart.blogspot.com check it out.

 

This is a very old thread as I can see. I just wanted to contribute since it is something I am very familiar about. I am a Nigerian but now residing in Europe and I was at Houdegbe North American University very many years ago to ask for the admission requirements then. First, Houdegbe is not in Nigeria. It is in Benin Republic (a neighboring country to Nigeria) and it is a private university accredited (as at then, don't know about now) and recognized by the Republic of Benin Ministry of Higher Education. Because the tuition fees were cheaper than most private schools in Nigeria, the school saw an influx of Nigerians running over there to study. It had some problems with the Nigerian Ministry of Education and the Nigerian Universities Commission who didn't recognize it for some time until later when the distance learning centers operating in Nigeria were scrapped off. As it is now, anyone (Nigerian) who goes there to study and acquire his or her degree over a 4 year period (not distance learning) is eligible to partake in the one year National Youth Corp Service (NYSC) in Nigeria. Service in the NYSC is one of the stamps on a degree. Any Nigerian who graduates (whether home or abroad) and doesn't participate in the mandatory Youth Corp Service is usually not recognized as having passed through an accredited university. Of course for those who are past 30 years of age during or before they graduate, there is an exemption certificate from NYSC that states the reason for not participating which can be tendered to employers or future graduate schools. Those who on medical grounds cannot participate are equally exempted. To cut the story short, Houdegbe North American University is not Nigerian school, it is private, based in Benin Republic, and recognized both in its country and Nigeria.

 

If a school is legitimate, accredited, approved, or what ever the proper language might be in a particular country then it should be relatively simple to demonstrate this fact. If there is lack of clarity then BIG red flags should go up. If this is a proper school then show the evidence. If there is no evidence then doubt will remain. Please remember that once upon a time there were a set of schools claiming accreditation from Liberia, a war-torn country in disaray. No one was surprised when it all turned out to be corruption.

 

I agree with you that there were schools claiming accreditation (and in fact they may have been accredited) but which no longer exist or remain accredited. Like I said, knew about and was sure that HNAUB was accredited as at (let's say) 2006 when I traveled from my country down there to make inquiries. Though there were problems with Nigerian students graduating from the school as their certificates were not recognized initially, but that was soon resolved when the Ministry of Education and the Nigerian Universities Commission resolved some misunderstanding... I should maybe state in my earlier post that all I knew was years ago and am not sure if they still remain accredited now. If this United States Embassy link in the country makes sense, anyone interested may contact them for information about the authenticity of the school, its accreditation status, and any other information pertinent to its status.Benin Education System | Embassy of the United States Cotonou, Benin

The above links states (under the University Education section) that: ''Some private higher institutions are also accredited by the Ministry of National Education. Altogether 94 higher institutions are accredited.'' It did not list their names even though it lists names of some secondary and primary schools. I believe any American interested in finding out (Maybe Dr John Bear can research this out) for personal reasons may contact the embassy and request to know if the school is government approved and recognized in the country of its existence. Thanks

 

Yes, of course. But why would anyone bother to do so? With so many other clearly legitimate DL options available, why would anyone step into that pool of questionable water?

 

I was just saying should anyone wants to find out... It seems to me that many are skeptical about the school and one way to clear their skepticism will be to find answers that are reliable. Anyone may, as I stated above, for personal reasons, find out its authenticity. There are many out there who would consider finding the right answers to issues that don't concern them just to help others who may need to know about such matters... To such people, I advised to go ahead. At least the ''darkness'' created in this thread may be lightened when such person gets the answers from verifiable sources like the American Embassy in Benin Republic. One reason I cannot find out anything at this moment is that I am out of the country and even if I lay my hands on weblinks belonging to the Benin Ministry of National Education, I am certain information therein will be in French and not English since Benin, unlike Nigeria which speaks English, is a French speaking country.